My first experience with any kind of significant coding came during the dot-com boom and bust of 2000. I had been working as a Project Manager with an Internet commerce company, then experienced my only layoff ever when the tech bubble busted…

One of the reasons why Epic Systems has become the technology leader in healthcare organizations is that they have built an integrated platform for almost all areas of care. Learn about the major modules, applications, and patient engagement tools from Epic. EpicCare Ambulatory, Epic Hyperspace, Cadence, Stork, MyChart, Epic Healthy Planet, Epic OpTime, Cupid, Epic Radiant, Epic ClinDoc, Chronicles, Epic ASAP.

One of the most successful areas in Healthcare IT has been the wide adoption of automated dispensing cabinets for medications and supplies in hospitals and other Healthcare facilities. This technology employs the use of storage units that operate somewhat like vending machines for the medical products, but also have sophisticated software on the back-end that handles patient orders, medication dosing documentation, inventory management, and billing transactions.

One of the most important skills for Healthcare IT is an understanding of healthcare database concepts and structure. It doesn’t matter if you are a Project Manager, Application Analyst, or System Administrator; this understanding will take you a long way in your career.

In 1994, a nurse at Colmery-O’Neil Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Topeka, Kansas had an epiphany. She realized that the ubiquitous use of barcode scanning in other industries might be able to help with the administration of medications in a clinical setting. The backdrop for her idea was an alarming number of medical errors, estimated to cause between 44,000-98,000 deaths each year.

We’ve all had those instances when we can’t remember our login to a website due to having so many IDs and passwords. However, this can be more than just a minor irritant for medical staff in hospitals and other care facilities. Many clinical users log into 6-8 different systems during their shift, and need to be able to quickly log in, get their work done, and move on. The solution that has become commonplace in Healthcare IT is called Single Sign-On, or SSO.

How can you get a tech job that you really feel you can do, but find yourself short on official qualifications? Check out my story of going from a hospital worker in Central Supply to a road warrior for a Silicon Valley powerhouse.